It Takes Time
by Hayden Avery
Summary: Vader finds Luke at age five; while still trying to retain his good heart Luke grows up conflicted as he is raised by his sith lord father. Years later when the far outsiders threaten the galaxy the Empire and the Rebels must ally themselves, forcing Luke and his father to work with Obi-Wan and his padawan Leia.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer—No ownership of the Star Wars franchise what so ever.**

**Chapter One—The Son of Beru's Brother in Law**

Loathing his master more than usual, Darth Vader, dark lord of the sith stalked about his ship in a nasty mood. Of course being a sith lord generally did put one in an irritable disposition but today of all days he was far more vexed.

Of all places for Obi-Wan to be rumored to hide, it had to be Tatooine. It was actually a brilliant move for the old man to make; truth be told. Despite vehemently trying to cast away the remains of Anakin for the past five years, there was still enough there to make Vader avoid the desert planet like a plague.

And so taking his TIE down to the planet's surface, the dark lord climbed out near Anchorhead the small settlement where the rumors had started.

A settlement which would undoubtedly have hell to pay should these rumors be false and Vader find he had been forced to return to his unacknowledged home planet to accomplish nothing.

He stretched out with the force, memories of burning to fuel his anger and therefore his power. He found nothing. The old man had gotten very good then at hiding himself. Then again the presence of the star destroyer above the planet had undoubtedly alerted him, if not the feeling of Vader's own significant force signature.

He did feel something in the force however, a brief flicker of panic. It was gone before he could decipher it.

Stepping out of his craft, the dark lord marched into the town. Glaring although none could see it beneath his helmet, he did not need his mammoth height as his black outfit and noisy respirator already made him easily distinguishable.

The town, if it could be called that, was small and contained the white buildings made beige with sand that so characterized Tatooine.

As he entered many of the citizens openly gaped at him, the intelligent ones quickly rushed inside their businesses or proceeded to leave in an unusual hurry.

He felt the fleeting fear not his own through the force once more, but before he could focus on his older master he became distracted by a very bright, raw force presence not far form where he stood.

He began to focus on this presence, thoughts of his former master forgotten for the time being. It wasn't just the power of this force sensitive, but there was something...familiar about this one.

A great curiosity, over took him and he began to walk towards an old parts shop, one that specialized in parts needed for the machinery that ran the many moisture farms surrounding this area.

Ignoring the voice in his head that reminded him of why he was here, and how much he wanted to leave this planet, and even his hatred for Obi-Wan, Vader continued in search of this force sensitive.

He walked into the shop, the streets now deserted as the citizens had wisely fled or hidden upon word traveling of his astoundingly surprising arrival to this sleepy little sand pit.

It had only taken minutes for them to do so, a record if he must say so himself.

When he reached the shop he knew was his destination, Vader had to hunch to enter the small doorway, when he did so the man who been haggling with a woman over the price of something or another stopped mid word and just stared.

He very likely thought he was hallucinating, as when did the second in command of the Galactic Empire just waltz into his tiny little Tatooine shop?

The man opened and closed his mouth several times, rather fish like in motion. His curly white hair starting to leak more sweat than usual to drip down his tan and deeply lined forehead as he took in a sight that was feared throughout the galaxy.

"How is eighty five unreasonable! Oh, pull yourself together Hawe! If it really alarms you that much I suppose ninety will work...Hawe? Hawe? Pay attention! Don't just ignore me, I understand these are from—Oh! What are you staring—"

The woman finally turned around to see what had frozen Hawe and in doing so gasped, dropping her hand bag as she did.

Her blue eyes widening in shock as she too stood stock still staring at the door way.

Vader looked at her and in a hazy recognition realized who it was, the woman who had been with his cowardly step family when they failed to save Anakin's mother.

She hadn't changed much in the years since he had seen her, her brown hair was cut now to frame her face instead of held back into a bun as it had been when she cried over Shmi's grave after doing nothing to prevent her death.

He immediately begin to choke her, his rage swelling over the past that he denied.

The high shelves and rows of rusted merchandise surrounding him blurring until all he saw was her shocked face as her neck snapped. His anger to great to even control the pressure to a mere choke. Something deep inside whispered it hadn't really been her who killed beloved Shmi, not even remotely, but he ignored that voice and focused instead on his anger.

She then fell dead slumped against the floor, her hand performing a weird twitching gesture as she lay there as if there was some life still not stamped out of her.

The man had just sat watching all of this in horror, his beady black eyes darting frantically around for an escape. No one had said a word from the time Vader had entered the shop.

"Do you know the whereabouts of Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Vader thundered out, of course his vocalizer left him no choice but to do this but in his anger he would have if given the option anyhow.

The man was clearly not level headed as he began to vehemently shake his head, still unable to for words.

Vader begin to put pressure on his throat and was pleased to see his eyes fill with fear.

"B—Ben! B—en Ken...!" Hawe gasped trying to convey something to the dark lord, but Vader already incensed over the unexpected appearance of Beru continued with his dark force power until all the air was deprived and the man too lay lifeless.

His temper having erased the memory of why he entered the shop, Vader turned to leave until he heard a child's cry coming from somewhere deep in the back of the measly shop. Behind the high shelves of old parts, and through the door way that led to the storage room.

Remembering the bright force presence that called him into the shop to begin with Vader stalked through the shelves, actually having to rely on the force to prevent his bulky form from toppling the merchandise that crowded the ridiculously narrow walkway between the shelves, going high enough to even be above his head.

After a few moments of this he irritably threw all of the stock against the walls clearing the aisle but ruining the shop.

As he entered the back room what he saw surprised him, a little blond boy clearly trying to quickly put what ever part he had knocked off of the shelf beside him back in it's place.

The boy turned and also stared at him, clearly having been alerted to him from the noise of his temper tantrum with the merchandise.

He stared up at the black mask, having to arch his head to far back that it almost touched his shoulders. Vader looked down at the boy in his crouched position, his large bright blue eyes unnerving the dark lord.

There was a strangely malevolent voice, almost Sidious like that made him desire to reach out and choke the child to dim the upsetting blue eyes. But he pushed aside the dark urge, dark even for him, and succumbed to his curiosity.

Besides, the boy was powerful in the force, and he been seeking an apprentice.

"Who are you?" His deep voice demanded. The boy could be given far more credit than the weak store owner, despite his clearly young age which couldn't be greater than five he rose from his squatting position near the droid he had knocked over and looked up at the helmet while answering in a shaky and high pitched child's voice.

"Luke."

"You are employed here?"

"No—I—I'm just...my Aunt Beru and me came to get some parts." The boy, Luke, stuttered through his sentence.

"Your _Aunt_?" Vader inquired, so the boy was vaguely related to him through marriage.

He remembered that Beru had had a sister, who had been there for the small funeral. He supposed this was her brat, strange coincidence that the child should be so strong in the force and so strangely connected to hi—Anakin, he mentally corrected.

"Yeah." The child said, clearly beginning to realize that something was the matter.

"Where's Aunt Beru?" He continued, starting to understand the strange quietness aside from the respirator.

"You need not worry about her, she is...taken care of." Vader spat, still angry over having his past, and an unpleasant part at that, thrown into his face.

However he was beginning to calm down and by doing so rationalize as his rage subsided. Obi-wan still needed to be dealt with.

But this apprentice was perfect, young therefore easily molded, and powerful, he did not need a midi-chlorian count to know this boy was strong. And what better revenge, to steal the woman's nephew and have him serve him in punishment for her failure so many years ago, her death had been far too quick.

Smiling, but not a true smile, more the smile of a villain with a plot which was of course exactly what Vader was he motioned the boy to follow him.

With nothing more than a quizzical expression, he picked up his small bag and did so, still naive in his tremendously young age.

The boy jogged to match the dark lord's steps and upon leaving the storage room cried out in disbelief.

Ignoring the wreckage around him he ran to his dead Aunt, her eyes staring eerily and blankly at the nephew she could not see now.

"Aunt! Wake up! WAKE UP!" Luke shook her shoulder hard causing her head to roll slowly, turning away from him.

Luke began to sob and did so for quite sometime before the impatient sith lord interrupted his crying.

"Come, we have no time to waste with...pointless grieving, she is dead. Accept it."

Luke turned to Vader with tears flowing down his face, at five being ill-quipped to handle grief, he looked completely shocked at the harsh blunt words the sith had offered.

"W—W—What happ—What—H—How?" Luke tried to take a deep breath to calm his hiccuping and crying, for a five year old he was well controlled.

Deciding to plant the seed now Vader answered, "A Jedi killed them."

The child looked at him bewildered but still to shocked to find any other emotion or questioning.

Vader, angry now at the wait reached forward and grabbed the boys arm, yanking him to his feet and dragging him along.

"NO! WAIT! AUNT BERU!" Luke shouted hysterically, flailing his arms wildly trying to return to the corpse of his aunt.

"Quiet!" The dark lord commanded, his baritone voice menacing enough to get the boy to stop his foolish display and just follow morosely, hiccuping and sobbing still.

"Your incessant wailing will not be tolerated. I expect you to compose yourself, now."

Luke struggled briefly again against the pull of the giant's arm but with no success the only result being a painful tightening of Vader's hold over the boy.

"Let me go! I need to go find Uncle Owen and tell him—I have to go home! LET ME GO!" Luke screamed, but his cries were unheard in the deserted streets, and the occupants who had taken refuge inside their stores were too cowardly to come to his aid, not that it would have helped.

Vader briefly considered accompanying the boy back to Lars so he could kill him, but then decided against it, he knew all to well the punishment of living without one's spouse and child. He brushed aside that thought and went on dragging the fighting boy.

He had sworn he had felt Obi-Wan through the force, he knew it. But he could gain no real sense of him and was beginning to speculate this had been a waste of time. His own desire to enact revenge on Kenobi had made him believe he felt a disturbance, maybe it had even been the boy he thought.

However he had gained an apprentice, possibly. He looked down at the crying pathetic child and knew he would have much work to do to make the boy a true sith.

Memories of another, slightly older boy crying for leaving his mother flashed through his mind but he quickly banished them.

It would probably be best to leave the boy's actual force training until a later date and simply train him in discipline and non-force skills until he was older and better able to understand the gravity of the situation Vader thought.

It was difficult to hate so much at such a young age, and for the training Vader would give him he would need his hate, but that could wait Vader thought. In the meantime he would manipulate the boy as Sidious had manipulated Anakin so that when the time came he would be loyal to Vader.

It would undoubtedly be unfortunate for him and the boy if he was to be discovered by the emperor. Vader would have to keep him hidden.

Vader mulled all of this over as he continued to march back to his ship.

Upon reaching it he took the bag from the boy, "You will no longer be needing this."

With that simple statement he began to throw the bag away into the sand despite the boy's upset protests, but a name messily scrawled across it stopped the motion as his mechanical arm was about to complete it.

And despite his disbelief his mind confusedly worked through some of the truths he knew to be so.

Luke _**Skywalker **__was written on the bag. _

_The bag owned by the boy who called Beru Lar's "Aunt."_

_Anakin Skywalker, Owen Lar's step brother. _

_Beru, Owen Lar's wife. _

_Beru; technically Anakin's sister in law. Beru was Anakin's sister in law. _

"_Aunt Beru," the boy's aunt. _

_Beru's nephew. The nephew of Anakin's sister in law._

_Luke, the nephew of Owen's wife, Owen's nephew._

_Owen the uncle of the boy, the brother of the boy's father._

_The boy's father Owen's step brother. Luke the son of Owen's step brother._

_Owen's step brother was Anakin Skywalker._

_Luke was Anakin Skywalker's son. _

_I was Anakin Skywalker. _

_Luke __**Skywalker. **_

Vader felt his mouth go dry, and a feeling he could not recognize spread through him, one he had not felt in so long, a kind of lightness, a lurch of...excitement perhaps?

Looking at the blue eyes again his belief was confirmed as he also took the blonde hair, and he wondered how he hadn't seen it in the half hour since he had met his son.

The dominating sith in him did not even bother in this instance to try to claim that it was Anakin's son and not his own.

Meanwhile out in the vast Tatooine desert a man sat in the sand staring sadly at broken down speeder bike that had collapsed when he needed it most.

A single tear rolled down his weathered cheek making a trail in the layer of sand that covered his face.

A ghostly apparition appeared behind him and he never took his eyes of the speeder, but yet he spoke knowing the ghost was there.

"I have now failed the father and the son Master."

"Perhaps...maybe Luke will influence Ana—"

"DON'T call him that." The brown robed man by the speeder snapped finally turning to face the old brown haired gentlemen who appeared before him like a holo.

"It is who he is, what else would you have me call him? He _is _Anakin, no amount of denial on your part or his changes the fact."

"Well at any rate I don't think Vader will have a change of heart and decide to abandon the sith for the boy. Children hardly effect him. Clearly the younglings..." Obi-Wan trailed off, the memories of the closest tie he would ever have to son and brother still too painful even after such time.

"I have failed." He repeatedly miserably, remembering another time when he said nearly the same worlds on an even hotter planet.

He flinched at the image of Anakin burning on the shores, screaming as the flame ate away at his body and heart.

And today when he had sensed Vader he had known, but when he had sensed Luke in Anchorhead as well he had panicked and now due to his speeder it was too late, Luke's presence was already smothered by the sith's.

How ironic to be unable to save the son of the boy who could fix anything due to a mechanical problem.

Obi-Wan drug his finger in the sand in a very childish and un-jedi like fashion.

"You must leave. There is no point staying here now."

Obi-wan shook his head, "Dagobah I suppose?"

"No."

"No?" Obi-Wan turned quizzically to Qui-Gon.

"To Alderaan. Protect her, she might be our only hope."

As Qui-Gon faded away Obi-Wan muttered, "She _is _our only hope."

However Qui-Gon just smiled and replied, "We shall see."

Before Obi-Wan could ask him what he meant; he was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two—Unclear**

Vader stared at the small grey back pack for quite some time, before finally bringing his arm back form the flinging motion and holding it close to his body.

He began to step into his shuttle and expected the boy to follow him, however Luke saw this as a perfect opportunity to escape.

He made it two quick steps before a large black mechanical hand gripped painfully hard around his shoulder and yanked him back towards the shuttle.

"You will come with me." Vader commanded, still dazed from what he had just realized but of course that wasn't evident through the mask and vocalizer.

"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE! I WANNA GO HOME!" The five year old cried, extremely stressed and emotionally unprepared for being abducted immediately after seeing his Aunt's disturbing corpse.

Vader dragged him to the ship as the boy futilely struggled. Finally realizing his anger was becoming far too great to tolerate the child and it wouldn't do to act when his mind was so shocked, he stopped and put a very strong force suggestion to sleep.

Being strong willed and force sensitive Luke unconsciously fought it, but being five and exhausted he succumbed and collapsed on the sand.

Vader stared at the tiny body, it briefly flashed through his mind to pick him up and carry him to the ship but the thought was quickly suppressed.

Instead he used the force to lift the boy and proceeded finally off the force-forsaken planet. If there was a bright center to the universe, Tatooine was not it, that much had not changed since his child hood.

He looked over at the sleeping boy, and reaching into a compartment in the ship drew out a small tester with which he swiftly poked the boy's arm with.

An outstanding midi-chlorian count, unsurprisingly.

He stared at the mini-tester for a moment, it had the potential to test for blood relation as well.

However what was the point in confirming with miniscule power of technology what he already knew to be true through the real power of the force?

After Mustafar his confidence had waned, how could his wife betray him with who he thought was his brother in all but blood, and how could his force abilities fail him when he needed them most to make that fateful jump?

There had been a time when the force was all he would have needed to know this boy was his son, life had made him cynical and now he wanted more proof. Definite proof.

Deciding, Vader proceeded to quickly remove a small section on what was left of his right arm, above where his elbow should have been, before sealing the suit again. He waited only a second before the results were clear, and it was then confirmed the boy was his son.

Looking at the sleeping child beside him though, the face was enough to confirm it. The cheek bones were different, a touch of Padme. He seemed smaller, though he was only five, Vader thought that he would be still of a smaller build when he was older. His nose was similar, very similar, but not quite the same.

But the resemblance was uncanny, certainly striking. The blood test had been unnecessary, but it was done and now there would be no doubt. No going back.

They were soon back at the star destroyer, Vader still reeling over his discovery.

He arrived on the ship, strictly warning his underlings not to disturb him and to set course away from this planet soon; he sent them the coordinates where he had a lead on possible rebels and his crew immediately set work to jump into hyperspace.

Vader sat in his ship looking around the hanger before using the force once more to lift his son and steering clear of all aboard the ship he made his way to his own private rooms.

There was a guest room near his, completely unused of course. Who would want to room near him? Or have enough bravery for that matter. More stupidity than bravery would be required.

However for Luke the room would work well. He would be close to Vader and away from anywhere frequented by the crew.

He placed the sleeping boy in the middle of the bed and as he turned to leave the room, he glanced back once more over his shoulder before exiting.

Vader sat in his pod and closed his eyes tiredly and for the first time in a long time fell asleep, although it was not peaceful.

"_Shh!" I called back, overly loud in a playfully stern manner as we snuck around the corner. The younglings laughed behind me trying to muffle the sound with their hands pressed against their mouths. _

_We lightly padded our way down the corridor, hunching over greatly despite the fact it didn't help us with our stealth at all. As we neared Obi-Wan's room one of the younglings tugged on my cloak, "Master Skywalker there's too many of them, what do we do?" He asked innocently but suddenly this was new, and not the replay of a forgotten memory._

_His question took me aback and I wandered what he was referring to; all we were doing was a harmless practical joke on Obi-Wan, too many what?_

_I shook my head, "What do you mean?"_

"_There's too many of us to sneak in, what do we do?" He asked again in a confused voice wondering why he'd needed to repeat himself. His tone lighter as he repeated himself. _

"_Oh, don't worry. His room should be empty, besides there's only five of you." I told him not understanding his concerns. _

"_Four," He whispered in a broken voice not fitting his age or the situation. _

"_What?" I questioned him as I whipped my head around and saw he was right there were only four._

_He looked at me incredulously, "I didn't say anything master."_

_I shook my head as if to knock these strange hallucinations out of my mind and we proceeded to Obi-Wan's room. _

"_Master Skywalker there's too many of them, what do we do?"_

_I turned back to the boy, "What do you mean?! I don't understand..." My voice sounded strange to my own ears, only a little deeper._

"_There's too many of us to sneak in, what do we do?" He asked again in the same tone he had earlier._

_He stared at me with innocent blue eyes waiting for an answer. _

"_Don't worry, his room should be empty and besides there's only four of you." I said, repeating my earlier words save the number in a dazed stupor as we continued down the corridor. _

"_Three," He corrected in the broken voice again._

_I look behind me to see he was right and there are only three children behind me. _

"_Where are you going?" I cried to the others._

"_Master, we're right here. What do you mean?" I looked back down at the blue eyed one._

"_The others, where are they?" I ask him sharply, beginning to be suspicious they were playing a mind game with me. My voice felt strange, my throat hurt and is was dropping again in pitch towards a baritone. _

"_What others? It's just us master."_

_I nodded and shook my head again, but as I began to turn back to the front I whipped around to face them again frantically as I caught a dark lurking shadow hovering over their heads._

_But when I turned to look again it was gone. I looked around noting the deep, disturbing blood red of the carpet, it is not the same red. It is a red I know I am familiar with but cannot find that I can remember where I have seen this carpet before. _

"_Master what's wrong?" The blue eyed one asks again._

"_Nothing. Nothing at all." My voice is even deeper, and has loss it's natural sounding inflection that human voices have. _

"_Are we still pranking Master Kenobi?"_

"_Of course." I try to smile but the muscles feel tense, and the gesture forced. My skin hurts now, it feels stiff. _

_We continue walking down the hallway but it seems darker now, not only more ominous but literally darker and I feel so confused as if I can't remember my own name. _

"_Master Skywalker, there are too many of them! What do we do?"_

"_What?" I turned startled back to the blonde haired, blue eyed boy convinced this time of what he said. _

"_Just that there are too many of us to sneak in master, what do we do?" He asks, sounding concerned for me and I suppose my outburst over his earlier question frightened him. I had a terrible headache and struggled to remember why I was there as I felt an unexplained despair clawing at the inside of my heart. _

"_There's only three of you, I don't think it will be a problem. His room should be empty."_

"_Two." The child corrects in that agonized voice again._

_I look behind me and see only two children and as I turn my head around I immediately with draw my light saber and ignite it. I slash through air however as the black shadow that I had sworn I saw right in front of me is nothing but—nothing. _

"_Master are you alright?" The blue eyed, blond haired one asks._

"_I'm fine," I reply, but my headache is beginning to become so painful it's dizzying. _

_We reach the wooden door that leads to Obi-wan's room and I stare at the door for quite sometime._

"_Aren't you going in Master?"_

"_Of course." I nod my head to try to further convince myself of this._

_Then the boy asks the same question yet again, and I know I have heard him ask this before in a much different situation..._

"_Master Skywalker, there are too many of them! What do we do?"_

"_What?" I ask tiredly even though I already know he will deny it._

"_I said Master how will we sneak in, there are too many of us. What will we do?"_

_I began to open the door but turn to answer the boy as I do so, not looking in as the door slides open. _

"_There's only two of you, his room should be empty." I repeat, rubbing my hand to my head as my headache grows piercing. _

"_There's just me Master." _

_I turn to see only the blue eyed, blonde haired child._

"_Where are the others?!" I cry out feeling like someone is driving a bolt through my skull._

"_WHERE ARE THEY?" But no one answers me save the shadow that I had glanced lurking who re-appears in all it's frightening dark glory to push me through the door._

_My air is knocked out of me and I fall breathless, but instead of backing into a simple Jedi's quarters I am falling and I look beneath me to see a swirling lake of red and fiery orange waiting to consume me. _

_I look back to the door way where the blonde haired, blue eyed boy is standing but his eyes are strangely dead like a corpse, eerily staring open as he claws at his throat as if he was being choked, and with a with a jolt I recognize him to be the son I had just found. He transforms into a terrified woman, with large brown eyes clouding with death, right as the fire consumes me and I am in agony screaming for the others who have disappeared and myself which is soon to be gone..._

Vader awoke breathing heavily, not unusual for him but that nightmare particularly tazed him.

He often found himself tormented by dreams of what could have been, the life he and Padme could've had, this nightmare however he finds even more disturbing than those. However he brushed it aside, placing it out of his mind just has he had done with it's different predecessors. The always ended in burning.

These thoughts were not sith like, and he refused to be contrite simply because he was a father. After all he had been a father unknowingly for five years, the simple knowledge of the fact should not change him he thought.

Rubbing his eyes Vader placed his mask back on and left for the bridge, perhaps choking one of his idiotic subordinates would improve his mood he thought darkly.

He had the brief urge to check on the boy but quickly quashed it down, after all the door was locked so it was not as if the boy could escape anyhow he told himself, not admitting the real reason he had sought to see his son.

Striding to the bridge Vader looked out over the stars with his hands clasped behind his back as he so often did.

It was hard for him to reconcile that not twenty four hours previously he had been perfectly clear on his goals, his life, what he was doing. Yet now one simple discovery had thrown him into complete confusion.

Everything was unclear now, the thought came unbidden into his mind of the cloudy dead eyes in his dream. Everything it seemed, even his unconscious, was unclear.

When he was younger he hated meditating, why did he need to enhance his connection to the force? He was born of the force, what more connection could he gain.

Loosing so many of his midichlorians to lava however, had made him more desperate to spend time tapping into the force. The irony being that sith were not taught to meditate nearly as much as a Jedi.

He reached into the network and felt deeply around, there were the mundane presences of his crew that had been there this morning, then there was the fascinatingly already familiar presence that shone brightly. Like a supernova among rocks, it was unmistakable and impossible to miss.

Which unsettled him even more. His master, his powerful almost omniscient master, who would undoubtedly not allow the boy to stay with him.

He needed to find a way to shield the presence, he could certainly mute it himself, but to truly make him safe from Sidious then he would have to teach the child. Which he would do anyways when the boy was older, but for now he would have to learn to at least quiet his presence. And the boy would never go to Coruscant.

He would have to review all of the personal on his ship extensively, down to the last janitor. Sidious had eyes everywhere. Even then the boy would be kept secret, but it was best to dismiss those he thought suspect, just in case.

After intimidating his subordinates Vader grew tired and returned to his quarters to review newly received intelligence.

He passed through the boy's room on his way. He was still sleeping even hours later, his body trying to recover from the trauma of such upheaval.

As he looked down at his mussed head of hair and peacefully sleeping form, he couldn't help but feel a small sense of an emotion he couldn't name, but it wasn't anything he had felt in the past year.

It wasn't anger, annoyance, vengeance, triumph, or pain.

He found that it was something which after a five year absence he had a hard time labeling.

Whatever it was, it left him feeling slightly lighter than he had in a long time, a strong sense of assurance that life would somehow work itself out had taken over him. A very rare feeling for him.

Elsewhere in the galaxy...

Obi-wan pulled his hood even farther over his head. Scratching his beard slightly has he had always been prone to do since he had grown it so many years ago.

Bail Organa was already waiting for him with a grim expression when he stepped of his ship.

Obi-wan squared his shoulder and readied himself, he was sure Organa wouldn't like his proposal. But he hadn't been known as the negotiator for just any reason...

**I do apologize for the huge delay in updating, I would like to say the next chapter will come quicker, but I can not make any promises. I have two other stories which are my priority right now, but when I finish them this story will be regularly updated. In the meantime I will try to write when I can, but I promise no matter how long it may take, this story will be finished.**

**Please, please review! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three—Adjustments**

"Why would I trust you? Clearly you failed to protect the boy, and we've been doing just fine on our own."

Obi-wan sighed, glancing outside the window which showed a beautiful Alderaanian mountain range in the distance.

"I did fail Luke. And for that I won't ever forgive myself, but she is the last chance our galaxy has and she won't stand a chance against Vader and his son if she doesn't start preparing." He replied sadly.

Bail sat back further in his chair, "Don't you mean her father and her brother?"

"Whatever is left of Anakin is too little to distinguish and Luke too...he is now lost to us." Obi-wan's voice never wavered although he did speak quietly as if the words themselves cost him greatly to say.

"What if this 'dark' side corrupts Leia? Perhaps the family is susceptible to it, maybe it would be better to not train her at all—safer.

The Anakin Skywalker I knew, was not perfect, but he was a good man. If it could do that to him, than why take the risk of ever teaching her the force.

Besides surely there are other force sensitives..." Bail trailed off.

"She will be more at risk of being lured into the dark-side if she is untrained. Then she won't even know any better and won't be able to shield herself from Palpatine and Vader.

And if there is a force sensitive out there with her power, then they are probably already killed or in the emperor's hands!

The galaxy needs her, and she will always feel a part of her missing if she remains untrained, being untrained does not take away the force from her—it just leaves her unprepared for the consequence of wielding such power!" The Jedi stated vehemently.

Bail sighed deeply, rubbing a hand over his tired eyes. "How will you protect us from Vader, Palpatine, and now Luke? How will you keep us from being discovered, you know what will happen if we are." He said tiredly, resignedly.

Obi-wan knew he had won the argument, but he wasn't sure whether or not it was a good thing despite the false bravado he had put on with Bail. Force knew how much different the world might've been had they not trained Anakin.

"I don't know." He said, deciding on honesty. Bail just nodded again tiredly, he had already knew the answer to the question before he asked it.

Both men stood from the opulent office and made their way out into the palace. Neither talked to one another for the rest of the night, it was an unspoken agreement between them that, in the morning they would begin all the long tasks that would need to be begun. Until then, both tried to avoid thinking about it.

Elsewhere in the galaxy...

Stupidity was a very rare word to describe Darth Vader, perhaps the actions that had led to his alter ego that he now solely claimed, but not his actions since donning the monstrous suit.

But yet he underestimated his son, the son who inherited the genes of his father's tremendous force ability and mechanical aptitude.

A mistake that easily led to the five year boy dismantling the simple, not even standard grade lock, and escaping his guest room which had more been serving more in the vein of a prison cell.

Luke Skywalker was hardly what someone would call stupid, very young, certainly naive, and a little too eager sometimes, but never stupid. It was simply too easy for him to leave his quarters.

Dazed from just waking from his long, deep sleep, the boy's terror at the events that had last happened when he was wakeful were tremendously dulled and his wonder and excitement at being in what he was sure must be a ship, were on the other hand, overflowing.

Doing his best to walk quietly he continued to the right, the corridors all looked the same the same to him as he strolled about.

He was starting to become suspicious that he had not seen anyone when suddenly he turned the corner and came directly in front of, almost knocking into, a tall man in a boring grey uniform. Why anyone would insist on dressing so drearily was beyond him.

The man looked down at him suspiciously, he had beady eyes and a certain twitch about him, a certain feeling which made Luke automatically dislike him.

His Aunt Beru had always told him it was wrong to assume things about people and that one should not dislike someone for just any reason but a very solid one.

However after lecturing him for an hour last year when he had a bad feeling about the parts salesman, she was angered to discover the man had taken her money and given her absolute junk in the way of parts that he had supposedly been 'ordering' from off planet.

She never lectured Luke about his immediate dislikes again.

Thinking of all that however just made Luke feel empty, not so much sad as empty. It was almost a worst feeling than sad, at least sad you could release, you could cry, but this emptiness just sat in your stomach.

His musings were interrupted by the shrill, somewhat girlish really, voice of the dreary, beady eyed man. "Who are you and what exactly is your business on this ship?"

He sounded so old, Luke thought. And deciding he didn't like him anyways, he ran past him instead of answering. He ignored the shouts behind him from the man, and only running faster when he heard the pursuing footsteps.

Soon the halls he was running down became more crowded, filled with storm troopers and others all in dull uniforms.

Many stopped and looked at him, and by the time he reached the third hall they were reaching to restrain him. However with amazing agility and quickness he dodged them all and kept running.

Until one, or several, of them pulled out their blasters set on stun.

It was dark, and there was a strange sound in the room. It almost sounded like loud...breathing.

Luke soon realized it was dark because he had his eyes closed, and abruptly opened them to find he was momentarily blinded by the harsh artificial lights.

He blinked a few times, trying to gain a sense of his surroundings.

Finally he noticed the huge, dark, hulking shape beside him.

He blinked curiously at his companion before his memories came back to him that this was the thing that drug him away from Aunt Beru.

He sat up, scooting along the bed until he sat away in the opposite corner from the thing.

"You were not permitted to leave your room," it finally said, in a deep baritone voice.

Luke glanced up at it, he was not entirely sure what 'permitted' meant, but he was guessing it wasn't good.

"In the future, you will go anywhere unless I command you to," it continued.

Luke bristled slightly at the word 'command.' He was a full five years old after all, a big boy, he even helped Uncle Owen with the vaporators the last few months...

Uncle Owen—where was he? Why hadn't he come and gotten him? Was he alright? Luke wondered.

'It' had continued talking but Luke wasn't paying much mind.

"Where is this?" Luke finally asked, interrupting something it had been saying about 'secrecy.'

"This is the Star Destroyer Command," it answered.

Was everything revolving around commands here? Luke thought distastefully.

"In the future you would also do well to _never_ interrupt me," it said menacingly.

Luke cringed slightly, nodding as he looked again at the hulking thing.

Luke waited tensely in the silence that followed.

"You will begin training tomorrow. Until then you will be escorted back to your quarters where you will stay. Do not leave again, I will not be so tolerant next time." The thing said it made it's way to the door.

Luke stared for a moment before calling out more boldly than he actually felt, "What do I call you?"

The thing seemed surprised and stopped for a moment.

An irrevocable second passed of hesitation before the thing replied, "Master will do."

And then Master was gone.

Not a minute later a storm trooper came and with a few silent gestures escorted the child back to his room never responding to Luke's attempts at conversation.

Back in his room Luke sat on his plain bed and stared at the blank wall. It was cold in his room, and he shivered as he wrapped his arms around himself, bringing his knees tightly to his chest.

No one ever came for him. Some food was brought later in the day but the droid left as soon as it arrived.

Luke had never been solitary, always there had been his Aunt, his Uncle, Biggs, Cammy, Fixer, always there had been somebody.

He let a few tears fall as he continue to hold his knees to his chest.

Uncle Owen had told him that big boys didn't cry.

But maybe five wasn't so old after all, and either way; Uncle Owen certainly wasn't there.

Elsewhere in the galaxy...

"Yes she's through here Mr—"

"Yes thank you Milady," Obi-wan said not answering the head house keeper's unasked questions. Even his alias he was now keeping closely guarded.

She blushed slightly at the term and nodded, leaving while Ob-wan put his hand on the pad and entered after it confirmed his identity.

The little girl was turned away from him, her back to him as a hand maiden so tenderly arranged her short soft brown hair.

The room was opulent, everything expected of a Princess's quarters. So different from his little sandy haired desert dweller that had been with Owen and Beru, Obi-wan thought sadly.

It was covered with dark wood from Alderaan's own famous Chebaska trees that grew in the mountains. Through the window there was a stunning view of a large clear lake that sat on the south side of the palace.

The maiden looked up at his entrance but the girl did not turn.

In a moment that seemed to last much longer Obi-wan locked eyes with the hand maiden, who's entire face but her eyes was obscured in a blue veil.

She had looked up from where she was delicately braiding the girl's hair, her eyes were such a haunting brown.

_There's still good in him_

The words rang in Obi-wan's head, for a moment drowning out the other sounds of nature that had been drifting through the window.

She looked down, and whispering something to Princess quickly left the room without looking at the Jedi again.

The girl turned to him and looked at him with identical eyes.

"My father said you're going to teach me," she asked with a raised eyebrow much older than that of a five year old.

Obi-wan chuckled, a slight pang in his heart at how much in one second she already reminded him of her actual _father_.

"Yes, I suppose I will try." He said.

"Father says a friend told him that there is no try, only do and do not," Leia said in the same challenging tone.

Obi-wan nodded, slightly abashed for if anyone should have known that friend's words between he and Bail Organa, it should have been him.

"Your father's friend was right. I am here to teach you Leia," He said more somberly.

She nodded slowly, seeming to pick up on his change of mood.

Obi-wan sighed, and remembering some nagging curiosity he felt about the hand maiden before asked Leia, "Who was the woman here just a moment ago?"

"Oh—most people call her Naberrie," she said simply, still looking at him intently as if the answers to his character would be solved that way.

"Most people? What do you call her?" He asked.

"That's a secret...now what exactly are you here to teach me? Because so far I can't say I've learned anything."

**Please Review.**

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, they really do motivate me. **

**I did write that the ship "Commander" was the ship that Vader and Luke are on. I do not know what ship Vader favored, if any, before Executor, I just know that at this point in the time line he wouldn't have had Executor yet. If anyone does know and would like to tell me so I can change it, that would be great. I am trying to be accurate, but while I love the EU universe I am not the best versed in it so there will be some mistakes sometimes. And obviously there will also be some purposeful AU elements. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Three—Not Quite as I Pictured **

There was an old, extremely secluded dwelling kept by Bail up in the E'mias, the largest mountain range on Alderaan. It was modest—for royal standards at least. Still too lush for Obi-wan's jedi sensibilities but it's isolation was well worth it.

It was a simple three bedroom place. Obi-wan of course took one room while Leia the other and her faithful handmaiden, the mysterious Naberrie; who's face he still had yet to see, settled in the third. Although most nights, whether she went to the Princess's room or the Princess came to hers, they shared a room.

The kitchen was plain and practical, but with nice well working appliances like he hadn't had on Tatooine.

What he really loved about the place however, was the large loft that took up the entire upstairs and was free of any furnishings. It contained one large window that over looked the valley between Mt. Asiak, the mountain they were lodged on, and Mt. Meriebar their neighbor to the north.

The walls of the room were a bland cream and the carpet white. Breha had been planning to re-decorate it, turn it into a lounge of some sort, but Obi-wan upon seeing the house had asked her not to. It was a perfect place to train the way it was with it's ample space.

It had only been five days since he had arrived on Alderaan, but it felt so much longer.

He, Leia, and Naberrie had made the journey in a very circuitous route with all of them disguised, except Naberrie who just wore her customary veil.

It had taken them two days with their indirect route and use of public transports before they reached the E'mias from where they'd had to make a grueling hike. The five year old often had to be carried by Naberrie who would not hand her over to him despite Obi-wan's offers. The woman had never complained though.

He had thought Naberrie might abandon her covering now that they were so secluded, but yet that morning he had gone down stairs to see her serving breakfast to the Princess with her face entirely hidden except for those eerily familiar brown eyes.

"Good morning Leia...Naberrie," he acknowledged pleasantly with a nod of his head.

Leia smiled brightly while Naberrie returned his nod, whether she was smiling or not it was impossible to tell with her veil.

"Are we going to start training today?" Leia asked eagerly.

Obi-wan stroked his beard in mock though, after a long playful hesitation he smiled, "I suppose so."

"Good," she said simply, slurping down some more cereal. Naberrie gave her an admonishing look with just a small tightening of her eyes and the young princess, with a bashful smile, took her elbows off the table and stopped shoveling food into her mouth quite so fast.

Obi-wan grinned slightly as he ate his own breakfast.

All the while he pondered in his head..._Naberrie_...even the name was familiar. He had gone over it constantly on the way to their new home in the mountains. It wasn't any of the jedi he had ever known, and the woman, who did seem to be very good at keeping him from gleaning too much from the force, however didn't have the signature of a jedi.

Perhaps she had been one of Padme's friends? A handmaiden? Besides, know one knew that Leia was Padme's daughter.

The name brought a more somber mood over him. Padme—the woman he had left in a coma while he departed with her twin children to give them to the viceroy and a long forgotten brother in law.

He never forgot seeing her funeral holo not three days later, and knowing he had abandoned her while he hid her children. Anakin would have never forgiven him...but then again, there was so much he could never forgive Anakin of now.

Or maybe he was just simply reading too much into the situation. Although the name did sound familiar, and the woman hauntingly so.

Elsewhere in the galaxy...

"Well why doesn't he just let the rebels have some planets and then they would leave the empire alone?" Luke asked innocently.

He honestly didn't see the point in fighting a war over, what was it the thing—master he meant, had said? Something about fighting over ideals and some other words he didn't fully understand.

"Because—those fools do not deserve to rule any planet. The empire is in the good of the galaxy." Master answered back sharply as he stood in front of Luke, towering over the small boy.

Luke after watching a ridiculous number of 'educational holos' was now being quizzed. However he had to admit he hadn't paid attention to most, and when he did the old gray haired human who was talking hadn't interested him much.

"But—"

Master held up his hand to silence him, "There is no questioning." He said angrily. Then again he did say _everything _angrily.

Luke sighed, "Alright."

Master stared down at him for his non-committal reply, "I mean—yes. Yes." The five year old hastened to add.

His master continued to stare at him through the black lenses of his helmet. "Yes master," Luke stuttered out quickly, he had to remember to add 'master,' he often forgot.

"Continue your studies, I will return tonight to question you." Master said as he quickly departed.

He only ever spoke to Luke to question him, there were no leisurely conversations like with his Aunt and Uncle.

The five year old turned back with an air of depression not fitting his age to holos and books, he was learning to read. He had been in the process when Beru...

He didn't want to think about it.

...

"_And P of course cannot be forgotten. It makes the first letter of a rather important name—Palpatine. Our honorable, noble Emperor. Why for that reason P is my favorite letter of the basic alphabet. Now repeat P..."_

Luke began to ignore the wrinkly old human male on the screen once again as he related every letter to something imperial. Instead Luke doodled images of ships onto his pen pad that he was supposed to be practicing his letters on.

A few hours went by slowly, they had no progressed into practicing writing simple words but still not completely independently spelling.

One of the words in particular caught Luke's attention "_V-A-D-E-R, children that is Lord Vader. The commander of the Imperial navy, a very important man. Now pay close attention to how you form your A's. The top must be like..." _

Vader.

He thought he had heard the name before.

He remembered some vague news shows they would watch in the outer rim. Shows Biggs would always mutter his parent's had told him were full of propaganda—whatever that word meant.

They had constantly featured a tall, robotic like figure clad in entirely black. The commander of the imperial navy and the second in command of the empire—Lord Vader.

He remembered the name, and as his Master strode back in through the door way, Luke turned his head quickly being startled as he was by the abrupt entrance.

It had to be him, he knew it.

"Are you Vader?" He blurted out before thinking like he was prone to do. His master seemed to survey him for a moment before looking at the holo screen, where his name was displayed for children to learn to write their letters.

"Yes." He replied simply.

Luke opened his mouth to fire off more questions but Vader continued, "You have been practicing your writing?"

The boy nodded vigorously, afraid to displease his master who definitely intimidated him although he had yet to really physically harm Luke.

Vader gave him one short nod and went through the connecting doorway into his own chambers, locking it behind him and leaving Luke alone again.

Luke sighed deeply, he scrambled over to the holo and turned it off as the droid came in with his dinner.

A few more tears trailed down his cheeks as homesickness hit him so potently he felt as if he had been punched, but he brushed them away. He had a very strong feeling that master would not tolerate any tears from him.

And after that one incident with the parts salesmen, Aunt Beru had told him to always trust his feelings.

...

Ignoring the holo that was extolling the virtues of the human species above all others, Luke instead looked out of the little window that he had into space.

There were fighters out there, not far from the ship performing a series of acrobatics and drills. He was fascinated by them and quickly found himself daydreaming of being in one of them.

When Master came to question him over his Galatic Studies he failed miserably.

"How is it you comprehended so little of the material?" Master asked harshly.

"Can I go flying sometime?" Luke answered instead, still sneaking peeks longingly out of the little window. He hadn't paid any attention to the last holo, it was no mystery he knew none of the information.

Besides he didn't really believe the other video, Beru had always told him that their galaxy was blessed to host so many species. Owen on the other hand had grumbled about the jawas ambition in re-sale prices, but Owen had grumbled about most things.

"No." His master said pulling him away from his thoughts.

"You can however pay attention to your studies," he said firmly, thrusting another holo at Luke.

"I will be procuring you a droid to supervise you," Master said as he strode out the door.

Luke wasn't sure what 'procuring' meant, but it didn't sound good to him.

...

W-40 was perhaps the worst personality Luke had ever encountered in a droid, including the vaporators which was saying something as they were solely computers really.

The droid did however completely prevent Luke from doodling or aimlessly staring out of the window during flying drills. Something Luke found frustrating as he was forced to actually dedicate himself to learning about the empire, spelling, math—which he was happy to find came very easily to him, and different planets. Although the different planets, sometimes could be interesting. Unless they were a rebellious planet as they were then just painted to be a haven for the dregs of society wishing to destroy social order and all that was good in the galaxy.

"You are to complete through file forty five," W-40 reminded him as Luke attempted to put down his data pad that he had been solving simple addition problems on.

"I was just trying to take a little break," Luke muttered.

"You are to complete through file forty five," W-40 repeated in the same blank robotic voice.

"I know, I know..." Luke replied picking back up the data pad.

Five and three...he was sure it was eight. He decided to count on his fingers to make certain.

"You are not permitted to use the elementary method of counting digits." W-40 interrupted from over his shoulder.

"I was just double checking," Luke said incredulously.

"You are not permitted to use the elementary method of counting digits." W-40 repeated, Luke scowled in frustration. Rolling his eyes at W-40 he penned in his answer, he knew it was eight anyways.

...

"Can I go flying sometime?" Luke asked again that night. He asked every night.

"You are not old enough to fly yet." The dark lord said shortly.

"_Please_! I've—"

"No. And begging will never allow you anything. I never want to hear you do so again." Vader interrupted harshly.

"Yes master," Luke replied quietly, a little frightened by the even more threatening tone he had heard.

"Now tomorrow I will embarking on a mission and I will be gone the better part of three days." The dark lord said as he began to leave.

"Wait!" Luke cried, flailing his arms slightly as he jumped out of his bed he had been sitting on.

"Yes?" His master asked, regarding him cooly from the threshold of the door.

Luke stood a little nervously in the center of the room unsure of how to word his request or even what his request was.

"Do you think we could eat dinner?" Luke asked, craving whatever company he could find even it was his domineering and completely frightening master.

"Haven't you been receiving your dinner?" Master asked.

"Well—yes...um I mean—will you eat with me?" Luke mumbled.

"I do not eat." His master replied coldly before leaving. His countenance seemed darker than usual as he said it, a feat considering how darkened it typically was.

Luke stood a moment, still in the center of the room looking at the now closed doorway before he went back over to sit on his bed.

His skin was starting to loose it's bronze complexion, growing ever so slightly fairer as he never saw the sun anymore.

One morning, in a particularly hasty departure Vader failed to completely lock the doors that led to his own set of chambers.

Luke who had mastered powering down W-40, something Vader had yet to discover, tried to avoid the temptation of the other rooms. He sat for a near two standard hours trying with little prevail to pay attention to studies, he was now learning actual spelling rather than just letter forming.

But after being enclosed in one, although spacious, single room he could not help but let his curiosity affect him.

They were plain, the chamber, consisting of a monochromatic color scheme of greys with the expected black.

A large pod of some sort resided in the center of the room, it's massive expanse taking up a large bulk of the chambers.

Luke wasn't sure what it was, but it looked menacing even as it simply sat there de-activated he was sure from whatever it's real purpose was.

What really drew his attention though was the large array of metal cylinders displayed over on the far wall.

Most were out of his reach, but the bottom row he could reach with the tips of his fingers.

Rolling one out of his hold he took it into his hand and examined it.

There was some sort of switch on it—a button. Pressing into it he was shocked to see a brilliant red blade expand from it. He stared in awe at the beam, it hummed with an energy that Luke knew intuitively was dangerous.

He swing it in a wide arc careful to keep it away from his body. He stood then again with it still, examining it and pressing the button a few more times to watch it disappear and re-appear.

"What are you doing?" A thunderous voice startled him into nearly dropping the saber.

He spun around wildly, the saber turned off and the red blade gone.

There in the threshold was his master, and although he couldn't see his face he knew he wasn't pleased.

His master strode quickly over to him, Luke was backing away almost tripping over his own two feet in his fright.

But for all his back stepping his master still reached him quickly and with a vicious yank removed the blade from his hand, quickly placing it back in it's proper place.

"Those are not toys to be trifled with!" He bellowed.

Luke cringed wishing the wall wasn't behind him so he could further retreat.

"There are weapons—You should not even be here! I made myself clear upon your arrival that these chambers were off limits!" His voice seemed even louder and more unforgiving than usual as it bore into Luke's ears. His sight too was bombarded as the hulking figure covered his view of anything else, a block of black obscuring his vision.

"Answer me! What made you believe you could enter this room?"

Luke tried desperately to think of an excuse, 'I was bored,' just simply didn't sound like it would work in this case.

"I—I—I'm sorry." He finally stuttered out, "I didn't mean it! I swear I didn't mean it!"

"How could you not mean to enter here? Are you no longer in control of you own body?" He asked.

"No! I just—I really...I'm sorry." Luke pleaded.

There was a long moment of silence that felt suffocating as Luke nervously waited for the verdict.

"Do not ever disobey me again." He finally stated cooly.

"Yes, sorry." Luke mumbled again, eyes down cast. Vader however did not move, looking up briefly Luke added, "Sorry Master. I—I won't do it ever again."

With a harsh grip on Luke's shoulder he escorted him out of the room and after properly locking his own quarters left without another word.

Luke looked miserably at the powered down W-40 and not for the first time wished beyond hope for the comforting arms of his aunt, or just anyone who was willing.

...

Darth Vader had not had a promising day. To begin his morning he had hastily learned of a botched simple mission by one his ground force officers, needless to say that man was now _disposed_ of.

Then he had discovered that the leaked information regarding the botched mission, he let several imperial spies be compromised and the strides he had made toward conquering the rebels void.

Then he had returned to his chambers to see his son's—_student_ he reminded himself— student's progress only to find the boy in his own chambers with the red light saber blade ignited as he examined it!

A blade that could slice through anything bar another blade. One that that the boy, a tiny little five year old thing, did not need to be going within a ten foot radius of; much less holding ignited in his own two hands.

He could have easily killed himself.

The thought angered Vader more than he cared to contemplate. After all, the boy did have incredible force potential and such a promising apprentice he was not likely to find a replacement for anytime soon, hence why the child had infuriated him so much to be foolishly handling the weapon.

Not to mention he had directly disobeyed one of the rules he had set in place for the boy. He clearly needed to be a stricter master, the child was weak, disobedient, and unfocused.

He entered the boy's room, planning to impress upon him the need to better himself and the consequences that would begin resulting for future behavior like that morning's incident.

The child straightened immediately upon Vader's entrance, a fear emanating him that pleased the sith lord. It would make it easier to bend him to his will.

"What you did this morning must never be repeated. As a consequence you will..."

He stopped briefly when he noticed the boy's eyes were not following him at all but instead focusing on something to the left of his shoulder.

He looked over at the child's line of vision to a beautiful Zinara fluttering about the room, looking as out of place in the dreary star destroyer as he would at a wedding.

Zinara were insects from the moon Narwen, they had large wings for their small size covered in varying colors. This one had a brilliant, sometimes fluorescent in shade pattern of varying blues spotting it's wings.

It was completely unlike anything the boy would have ever seen on Tatooine.

However it would never survive in a star destroyer.

Making a move to crush it so he could dispose of it, he was stopped by a frantic voice.

"No don't! You'll kill it!" Luke shouted with more volume than he had ever addressed his master with as his eyes flickered between him and the Zinara.

His forehead was crumpled into lines of worry and he looked so concerned for the poor little creature.

"It will die anyway. This is no place for it's kind. It needs to be disposed of." Vader explained curtly but his lower hand was snatched by the boy as he continued to plead. The Zinara had fluttered over to glide on the air behind Luke as if it knew that he was it's protector, although that was impossible with it's negligent intelligence as a non-sentient simple insect.

"Please! Can't we return it to it's home, I'll take if you'll let me..." Luke asked earnestly.

Vader looked down at him his request was of course ridiculous but the boy didn't seem to realize that while yes, they were in orbit above Narwen, it would require taking a TIE down to the planet's surface to return the zinara, not something the boy could handle by himself.

And certainly not something the Sith Lord was going to waste an hour of his time doing for the sake of an insect.

"No. Your request is impractical. It is merely an insect, let it die." Vader repeated, his patience starting to sorely reach it's end.

"But what would you think if your were a bug?" Luke asked in a last effort appeal.

"I wouldn't as my mental faculties would not be very capable of the task," he answered swiftly.

Luke widened his blue eyes and meeting the eyes of the sith lord said, "But in some kind of way, it must be happy it's alive. I mean, I know it's not smart and all but it must be happy to live. And why kill it and take that away?"

Vader found himself unable to stop a long buried memory from re-surfacing...

_They would soon be returning to Coruscant, where he would begin his Jedi training. Obi-wan had already told him he would be taken as his padawan, they'd already changed his hair and all._

_Yesterday had been the celebration, even with her white face paint Padme had looked so beautiful as she smiled at her people..._

_Anakin dismissed the thought shaking his head, he would not be able to see for a long time. Maybe never._

_But no, certainly not never, he would find a way before it came to that he promised himself. _

_They were expecting his at breakfast, their last farewell before he and Obi-wan were to depart as the rest of the council had already done after Qui-gon's funeral. _

_The image of his pryer stung as he thought of it and he tried to change his mind. _

_Of all the people he so far met since that fateful meeting on Tatooine just mere days ago, Obi-wan had been the one he had felt the most indifference towards but now it seemed he was loosing everyone except for him. Qui-gon, Padme, and his mother, they were all gone. _

_But, he reminded himself, he would see Padme and his mother again. He would make sure of it. _

_By the time he finished these thoughts he found himself at the breakfast hall. _

_This was the informal one, just some of the handmaidens and Obi-wan would be eating in there this morning. And Padme of course. _

_He walked in, all his melancholy thoughts forgotten as he saw her bright smile and beckoning hand to a chair beside her. _

_Obi-wan was seated on her other side and as irrational as it was a little bit of jealousy flared up in him at the arrangement. _

"_Ani, are you excited to be going back to the temple?" She asked, trying to make conversation._

"_Yeah, it'll be wizard..." He answered back somewhat distractedly. _

_She nodded at his response, but her attention, as well as everyone else's, was then re-directed to the shriek at the end of the table. _

_One of her handmaidens was trying to catch her breath as she looked down dubiously at the floor. _

"_Sache what's the matter?" Padme asked with a raised eyebrow. _

_Sache turned to her a bit startled, and red colored her cheeks. _

"_Oh—no matter milday. Just a little bug...startled me is all." She said embarrassedly. _

_One of the guards stepped forward. "Here allow me madam," he said with a raised foot to stomp on the thing. _

"_No." Padme dismissed him away from the creature with a wave of her hand. _

"_Here I was planning on taking a walk this morning anyways, I'll return it to the outside." She said, rising and going over to pick up the little blue beetle. _

"_But milady—it's simply a little...bug...I can dispose of it for you if you would like—"_

"_Thank you officer but that won't be necessary." She said politely although somewhat clipped. _

"_Ani, would you like to come on my walk with me? I did not get very much time to talk with you yesterday," she said kindly. _

_He was only too happy to agree, eagerly hopping from his chair to join her. _

"_Are you sure you don't want me take care of the beetle—" The guard tried to ask again._

_With a patient smile however she cut him off, "We did just celebrate the blessing of our freedom from the prospect of death officer. I see now reason to take away this beetle's life seeing as we are still so grateful to have our own. _

_However non-sentient it may be I still believe it must have some sense of desire for survival, and I see no reason to strip it of that when it can be so conveniently granted. Why kill it and take that away?" She said ending the conversation. _

Vader blinked behind his mask, still dazed from the seemingly unsuspected attack his memories had made on him.

He looked back down again at the child's pleading eyes.

"I suppose we can." He was rewarded with a bright look.

"But we'll have to fly to get there."

He had never seen a boy so happy.

**Please Review**

**The image I was aiming to describe with the zinara was something akin to a butterfly.**

**Thank you to ILDV for giving me the ship name, I will be changing that soon. **

**CommChatter—Leia is a fun one to write. This chapter sadly lacked her somewhat but it was unavoidable. Thanks for the review. **

**NonSoCheNickMettere—Vader does have a long road in this story, but he'll come around. Thanks for reviewing. **

**Feyfangirl—thank you so much**

**StarOfTheSea—Think character last names, I do think this chapter did somewhat hint more at it. I'm happy you like it and I'm sorry that for this chapter, and likely this next one that Leia won't be in it quite as much. **


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